The imposing wooden doorway of the theatre Farnese is nowadays the entrance to the National Gallery.
The theatre Farnese, one of the most beautiful historical theatres in Italy, was built between 1618 and 1619 at the order of Ranuccio I with the aim to pay homage to Cosimo II de Medici, who had planned to stop in Parma during a journey towards Milan.
The journey never took place and the theatre, built in the former arms room of Pilotta palace, was only opened in 1628 for the wedding of Margherita de Medici and Duke Odoardo Farnese, with mythological and allegorical performances and a spectacular naumachia. G.B. Aleotti, the architect, based his design on Palladio's theatre Olimpico in Vicenza: horseshoe shaped stalls are surrounded by two tiers of loggias with Palladian windows, the lower row Doric and the upper one Ionic, topped by a balconied gallery. The stage was equipped with an innovative system of movable scenery and gallerie, the first example of such stage machinery in the history of italian theatres. Special effects were used to recreate land and sea not only on the stage but also in the huge auditorium. A Corinthian proscenium is decorated by the Duke's coat of arms and an inscription dedicated to Bellona and the Muses.The theatre, built out of wood, plaster, straw and scraps of fabric, fell into a state of disrepair after the last performance in 1732 and was almost completely destroyed by Allied bombing in 1944. It was rebuilt in 1950 using the same materials.
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